Their study shows:
A recent analysis of age trends shows that over the past 10 years, fatalities in the 20 to 29 year old age group, the group with consistently the highest annual number of motorcycle fatalities, decreased, while fatalities in the 40 and over age groups increased. During this time, however, there were more driving age individuals in the 40 and over age group in the United States.
Since 1980, motorcycle ownership among the 40 and over age group has increased significantly, from 15.1 percent in 1980 to 43.7 percent in 1998. [4]
Likewise, rural motorcycle fatalities have been increasing and have, in fact, surpassed urban fatalities in the years 1998 through 2001.
Another recent trend indicates that the engine size of the majority of the motorcycles involved in fatal crashes has been increasing, as well. The mean engine displacement of the motorcycles involved in fatal crashes has increased from an average engine size of 769 cc in 1990 to 959 cc in 2001, an increase of 24.7 percent.
Further, the mean age of motorcyclists’ fatalities has also increased from 29.3 years in 1990 to 36.3 years in 2001. The analysis also indicates a corresponding rise in the average age of motorcyclists killed and greater involvement of motorcycles with larger engines in fatal crashes.
According to NHTSA’s National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), a nationally representative observational survey of motorcycle helmet, safety belt, and child safety seat use, helmet use for motorcycle operators fell from 71 percent in 2000 to 58 percent in 2002. This drop is statistically significant and corresponds to a striking 45 percent increase in nonuse.
Rider impairment and speeding also remain major contributing factors in these unnecessary and preventable crashes (both are discussed in greater detail later in this document); however, some other findings extracted from FARS provide further insight into possible reasons for escalating motorcyclist fatalities:
Half of the fatalities in single vehicle crashes relate to problems negotiating a curve prior to a crash;
Over 80 percent of motorcycle fatalities in single vehicle crashes occur off the roadway (a crash occurring on the shoulder, median, roadside, outside right-of-way, off roadway – location unknown, in a parking lane, separator and gore. A gore is an area of land where two roadways diverge or converge.);
Almost 60 percent of motorcyclist fatalities in single vehicle crashes occur at night;
Collisions with fixed objects are a significant factor in over half of motorcycle fatalities in single vehicle crashes
